


I'll take my time and make it last

by elletromil



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Getting Together, Hartwin being sickeningly sweet together, M/M, Mistaken for Being in a Relationship, Oblivious!Harry, POV Original Character, Training New Recruits, Truth Serum, mentor!Harry, oblivious!Eggsy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-24 14:03:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7511150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elletromil/pseuds/elletromil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>They were standing on the front lawn, all forty or so new recruits for Kingsman looking at one another warily, waiting for their instructor to make his appearance. Their number was unusually large, but circumstances were also unusual. After V-Day, the number of surviving Knights had been ridiculously few and the new Arthur had decided that instead of holding separate training for each position, they would find their new Knights all in one go. Thus, the remaining Knights had been invited to propose more than one candidate and it had been made clear that the restrictions the previous Arthur had imposed on who could have a chance to become a Kingsman had been thrown out the window. New blood,</i> different <i>blood, was the only way Kingsman would adapt to this new age.</i></p><p>In which Harry is training the new recruits, they have no clue who he is within the organisation and are pretty much all convinced he's shagging with agent Galahad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll take my time and make it last

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kiromenanz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiromenanz/gifts).



> So when I got the prompts and saw the truth-serum/very high on painkillers one, I knew at once I wanted to write something for that. And then I saw the one about the new batch of recruits being trained by Harry and Eggsy and them wondering about their relationship and just _knew_ I had to combine the two. Especially after I read the list of likes and it just _spoke_ to me.
> 
> I had some really great fun with this, hopefully you will enjoy reading it :D
> 
> In case it interests anyone, this has been written while listening to four songs by Tim McMorris: A Beautiful Life, Life Is Beautiful, It's a Beautiful Day and Make It Last. Title of this fic is from lyrics of that last song.
> 
> I want to thank the one who suggested I listened to Tim McMorris in the first place, she knows who she is.
> 
> I also owe a huge THANK YOU to my muse and test reader for spotting typos, telling me what she thought, making me see when I needed to add some details and just making it more fun to write this! She, too, knows who she is.

They were standing on the front lawn, all forty or so new recruits for Kingsman looking at one another warily, waiting for their instructor to make his appearance. Their number was unusually large, but circumstances were also unusual. After V-Day, the number of surviving Knights had been ridiculously few and the new Arthur had decided that instead of holding separate training for each position, they would find their new Knights all in one go. Thus, the remaining Knights had been invited to propose more than one candidate and it had been made clear that the restrictions the previous Arthur had imposed on who could have a chance to become a Kingsman had been thrown out the window. New blood, _different_ blood, was the only way Kingsman would adapt to this new age.

It was too early for them to have already divided into smaller groups, even if some of them were already sticking closer together, the lesson about working as a team already sinking in after the previous night. The fact that there were many openings to fill in instead of the usual one, only made it all the more important.

“ _If you can’t even work together now,_ ” Merlin, the scary bald Scot that had been in charge of them until now, had said as he had been looking highly unconcerned about their half drowned states, “ _then I won’t ask my Knights to learn working with_ you _._ ”

The display of protectiveness would have been kind of cute if the man had not been so _terrifying_.

Knowing he wouldn’t be the one in charge of the bulk of their training would have been reassuring if it had not been for the sadistic twist on his lips when he had told them the news as they were having breakfast.

And so, it was with no small anxiety that they were waiting for the man (that he was a man was the only detail they managed to discover, not that Merlin had been trying to hide the information) to show up.

Many started wondering if this wasn’t all another test, one of patience this time, when a man finally got out of the manor.

They all tensed up, as the man started walking at a leisured pace towards them, looking completely uncaring about the world.

Once they got a good look of the newcomer, a few of the recruits visibly relaxed, dismissing him when they noticed the eye-patch and that he was walking with the aid of a cane. Others tensed up further instead, noticing the confidence in his stance, the little something that commanded respect even though he was dressed as if he only planned to be lazing away on a Sunday afternoon.

One of the young man who had dismissed him at once at the sight of his injuries even went so far as to snicker and stage-whisper some unflattering comments about old-timers not knowing when was the time to quit and let the new generation take care of everything.

Later, none of the recruits could tell exactly what happened, only that Stephen, the one who had been snickering, was now on his arse on the ground and the instructor was looking at him quite smugly.

“Harry, do not maim the recruits please,” Merlin admonished, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, making some of them wonder for a moment if magic truly existed. However, even with the way he was frowning at the world, they could all tell that there was no true heat behind the man's words. In fact, he looked more disappointed in Stephen than the one called Harry.

“And I thought you only showed off for me, I am hurt Harry,” those words from a second voice made them realise that it wasn’t so much that there was magic involved than the fact the recruits might not be as aware of their surroundings as they thought they had been.

Looking at him, there was no doubt that _this_ newcomer was an agent and an active one at that. It was not only in the pristine suit he was wearing, but also the clear aura of _danger_ under his unassuming façade.

“Who says I wasn’t showing off for you?” Their instructor was still exuding smugness, but his smile seemed to take a bit more genuinely pleased turn when his eyes fell on the agent.

The words made Merlin groan in disgust.

“Really Harry? You bloody peacock. Stop flirting and do your job. _Without_ maiming. At least for the first day.” The glare he sent Harry’s way didn’t seem to have any effect, except for the man unsuccessfully trying to look innocent. It would have been more convincing if Stephen wasn’t still at his feet on the ground. “Galahad, with me, you still haven’t been debriefed.”

Galahad was very obviously reluctant to follow what had been a clear order, but a quick moment of silent communication with Harry made him run after Merlin, but not without a last wistful look at their little group.

Maybe it was true what they said of the knights after all, that they were all crazy.

Because who in their right mind would look as if they would give anything to be subjected to Kingsman’s intensive training again?

***

Galahad became a familiar sight after that day; one minute Harry would be alone, overlooking whatever exercise he had them doing at the time, and the next the agent would be at his sides, sometimes talking, sometimes in silence, but always giving off the impression that there was more going off between them than what met the eye.

There was soon a bet running among the recruits about what kind of relationship was truly between them, with even higher stakes than the one about who the fuck Harry Hart was.

Because that was another mystery they had yet to solve.

The man was very obviously at least agent material, but they never heard anyone call him by a code name. And sure, he was obviously convalescing from injuries, but even the different members of staff that had come back from retirement to help get HQ back on its feet still went by their old code names. Which had led to some pretty funny incident and many dark mumblings among the parties that shared a name.

But Harry was simply _Harry_ and while he sometime disappeared for a couple of days and let them in Merlin’s hands, they still hadn’t found out what it was he was doing.

Their most popular theory had been physiotherapy for his leg and taking some time off for the pain, right until Merlin had overheard them and laugh it right off. Sure the man still had some appointments to keep, but he was the kind of stubborn little shit that would rather walk the pain off than let a day go to waste.

When they had inevitably asked why he was so often _late_ in that case, Merlin had replied that Harry was also the kind of wanker who kept his own schedule and didn’t care about others’.

Even the recruits that became friendly with part of the various staff members were no closer to the truth, because while everyone seemed more than happy to answer any question at all, the subject of Harry Hart, and anything related to him for that matter, made them all suddenly remember they were needed somewhere else as if they were _scared_ something bad would happen if they answered.

Needless to say, the nature of Harry and agent Galahad’s relationship wasn’t something the staff discussed either, even if they didn’t mind heavily implying that the two indeed shared a strong bond of some kind.

*

The ones who favored the theory that Harry and agent Galahad were father and son, or at the very least, related in some familial way, had to revise their opinion the day Galahad and Harry had a _picnic_ of all things, right there on the lawn, while the older man was overseeing them running laps around the estate.

Harry had just called for a break, because while endurance was indeed important, there would be many occasions where they would need to stop whatever physical feat they were doing at the drop of a hat only to pick it up again just as suddenly.

They all stopped a bit further down the trail from where the two Kingsman where having their picnic, where they could still hear Harry when he would inevitably call for them to start running again, but could still talk in relative privacy.

“No way are they related,” Pietro said harshly, waving behind his back at the two men.

Luke, the one who had come up with that theory in the first place, rolled his eyes, still trying to defend it.

“Come on, why couldn’t they? Picnics are not exclusive to lovers you know. _I_ ’ve had picnic with my parents.”

“Yeah when you were five!”

The two boys started arguing in hushed tones until Claudia’s choked off a _squeeek_ sound and they both turned back in time to see Galahad feeding Harry a strawberry and then licking the juice off of his own fingers while laughing at whatever the older man was telling him.

After the surprise had worn off, all the recruits turned their back on them again. Not out of some disgust, because all the bigoted wankers had been weeded off their ranks already in previous tests, but rather because they were clearly intruding on a private, _intimate_ , moment.

“Okay, shagging, they’re _definitely_ shagging,” Luke pouted, because there went his hopes of winning the bet.

It was Lorelei’s turn to roll her eyes at Luke.

“Just because they are _intimate_ doesn't mean they’re _shagging_. That’s two vastly different things.”

“Whatever,” Pietro waved her interruption away and turned to Chantelle instead. “Chantelle, you’re one of Galahad’s, you should ask him.”

Even though the rules were that they shouldn’t discussed who had proposed them, the longer they spent in training and the more contact they had with the Knights, the more easily it was for everyone to properly guess which Knight had brought which candidate in.

“I _ain’t_ asking Galahad whether or not he’s shagging Harry,” she looked properly offended at the suggestion. “That’s not something you do.”

“Oh come on, what’s the worst that can happen?”

Chantelle wasn’t the only one who looked at Pietro like he was particularly dim at that question.

“He’s a fucking spy, take a fucking guess! Frankly, I’d rather ask Galahad where the fuck Arthur is!”

She was met by approving nods from the other recruits, because that was another mystery they simply couldn’t seem to leave alone. By then, they had met nearly everyone, except for Kay who was currently on an undercover assignment that just kept dragging longer and longer in time, agent Dagonet who was in charge of the shop and they had been told they would only meet when the time to make their first suit came, and Arthur. They understood of course that the world was still very much in shambles since V-Day, but surely the head of Kingsman could spare a few seconds to get a feel about the agency’s latest prospects. That seemed like the sensible thing to do.

“Why do you wanna know who’s Arthur?”

They all jumped when Galahad’s voice came from directly behind them without none of them have noticed his approach and Pietro gulped at the reminder that the agent could probably kill him before he even realised he wasn’t alone anymore.

Galahad was looking at them expectantly and it was Lorelei who answered in the end because she refused to let herself be intimidated by her future colleagues.

“Because that would be the smart thing to do? Building the trust between us, I mean. We’ve been working a lot with Merlin and the handlers which makes sense, we got to be used to listen to them telling us what to do sooner rather than later and we’ve met most of the support staff so we know they have our backs. But we should know Arthur too. They’re going to be sending us possibly to our death and we’re supposed to trust them, but how can we do that if we don’t even know who they are?” Galahad smiled in approval at the use of the indefinite pronouns, because if they should have learned one thing by now is that codenames meant very little in terms of one’s gender in the organisation, but didn’t answer her.

Instead he turned to smile at Harry.

“You hear that Harry? They think Arthur should be more involved in their training.” He waggled his eyebrows while Harry was looking at him fondly exasperated, but both were sharing a smile that could only mean the recruits were missing on some key information.

“Do they now? Hmm, I’d say it is definitely something to take into consideration… But I’d rather watch you all do five more laps.”

They all groaned at the order before complying, mostly because Harry was looking at them with an expression anyone would define as innocent but they now knew meant their instructor was taking some kind of sadistic pleasure in the situation.

***

A couple of months had passed and their number had shrunk from the original forty-two to fourteen.

They had been surprised at how fast they had been sent home, with little to no chance to truly show what they could do. Even though they had been happy to see some of the recruits go, they still thought whoever was making the decision was taking them too hastily. Zaher had even protested to Merlin only to have the man ignored him and they had grumpily accepted the fact that it would just join the list of crazy things that happened during training.

That was until Harry had them sat down in the library during one of their random but obligatory period of downtime. They always varied in length, but never lasted more than a day and supposedly served the purpose to prepare them to the dullness of downtime between missions, but they had all agreed it had probably more to do with Harry’s laziness than anything else. Not that you would actually hear them complain about it however.

It was then that Harry had explained that, yes, they were indeed sending recruits home at an incredibly fast rate.

“ _But you have to understand, each of them, each of_ you _, have the potential to be an incredible spy. But, as I am sure Merlin told you already, we are looking for team players, for people who_ fit _here. Even on your solo missions you’ll be ask to rely on other members of Kingsman, even if they are not Knights. Acting like wankers around them just because your daddy makes more money would only make them want to sabotage your assignment. Not that they would, because they are bloody_ professional _, but we won’t ask them to deal with that kind of attitude when we have other recruits who are decent human beings._ ”

He had taken the time to look all of them in the eye for a moment after his little speech, making sure that no matter what happened down the line, they would know they had his approval and from such a ruthless instructor like Harry Hart, it had felt like an accomplishment they could be _proud_ of.

Of course Harry, being the horrible man that he was, had ruined the moment barely a minute later when he had given them a new task, this one entirely research.

“ _A spy can’t be all brawn and no brains after all_ ,” he had said merrily before leaving them to their assignment, going so far as to give the pretext of not wanting to be a distraction.

As if they had not seen agent Galahad stop in the doorway and silently invite him to share tea time with him.

*

The passage of that couple of months had also marked the disappearance of Harry’s cane even though the eyepatch stayed and it was only now that they could see him in his best form that the recruits understood just how bad he had truly been when they had first met him.

It was what made them all bet that he was a Knight, despite the lack of code name. However, they were still divided about whether or not he was an active one using their training as a cure to boredom while convalescing or if he had also come out of retirement because he was a sadistic bastard who like to see new recruits squirm.

Not that the ones believing he was an active agent denied he was a sadistic bastard, they just thought he was a _bored_ sadistic bastard.

And bored he definitely was judging by his look after he had wiped the floor with them all at hand-to-hand combat. The bastard had barely break into a sweat.

“Is that all you have? I admit I was expecting more of a challenge from you. I’ve just been cleared for combat and yet I have had more of a fight when playing tug-of-war with Mr Pickle, bless his furry soul.”

His only answer was the pained groans from the recruits sprawled on the floor, still trying to catch their breath again. Before he could huff in annoyance and think of something else to torture them with, agent Galahad, who had conveniently been going through his routine at the gym at the same time as their sparring session, stepped on the mats reserved for fighting in front of Harry.

“If you wanted a real sparring partner Harry, you shouldn’t have fought with the ducklings.” As always when Galahad referred to them as such, they grumbled at the offense, but today they did so with less force, if only because the spy was diverting Harry’s attention on him instead. “Come on, I’ll show you a real fight.” He threw in a wink for good measure and the recruits groaned again, this time at the non-stop flirting.

“Alright, observation might teach them one or two things,” he replied in a tone that made it very clear he wasn’t really holding such high hopes, but nonetheless took a fighting stance. “Who knows, _you_ might even get a lucky hit,” he taunted, but Galahad was not so easily distracted.

For a long time the two men only circled one another, not even bothering to faint an attack, just silently assessing their opponent. Pietro was about to complain about their inaction, but was beaten to it by Harry himself.

“Come on Galahad, are we going to stand around here all day? Or are we going to fight?”

Surprisingly, the provocation only made Galahad laugh fondly, even as Harry was using his moment of inattention to launch into an attack. Galahad evaded it very quickly, bending out of reach in a way that made all spectators winced in pain. No way should anyone be that flexible.

But Galahad was back in a defensive position in no time, seeming to have the time of his life blocking every punches and kicks Harry was throwing his way.

Harry had the same look of elation on his face, his smile only getting brighter when Galahad started finding openings to throw some hits of his own.

They went at it for a long time, not above using dirty tricks. In fact, after a moment observing them, it became clear that only the one playing dirtiest would ever get the upper hand in their dance of violence.

They understood now what Harry had been telling them, that no one would be playing fair on their mission, that it wasn’t about who knew the moves best, but who was the quickest on their feet, who could turn the situation to their advantage.

Right now, the one who ended up being the quickest was Harry, who finally got Galahad pinned to the floor in a move that had been too fast to see. At least that’s what they thought, until Galahad turn the situation around, twisting their locked bodies so that Harry was the one flat on his back.

“Well done,” Harry beamed proudly at the young man all but sitting on top of him, both having silently decided that this marked the end of their match.

They didn’t move from their position on the floor for some time, under the pretense of getting their breath back under control, but the recruits would have been pissed poor future spies if they hadn’t noticed the two men lingered just a moment too long.

***

“I just don’t understand why we need to learn this shite if it’s already your specialisation,” Zaher whined after he had been trying (and utterly failing) to lift agent Galahad’s wallet without him noticing too much for the ninth time.

The spy snorted, but it was Harry who answered, because if there was one thing he took seriously with his role as a teacher, it was imparting whatever wisdom seemed pertinent at any given time.

“Now I know you’re too busy being frustrated to be thinking clearly, so this once, I’ll explain why you have to _learn this shite_ as you so eloquently put it. Every Knights in this organization usually have a few skills they are better at than the others and while the missions are handed out to reflect their areas of expertise, it would be foolish to think they wouldn’t need to have a basic training or understanding of other specialisation. Sleights of hands might come handy more often than your ability to recharge a gun in record time or make a makeshift weapon out of the most mundane object. It could even very well save your life.”

There was something dark settling in his eyes at that last part, both _angry_ and _sad_ , something that was _terrifying_ and _heartbreaking_ at the same time. It was the helpless rage at an event long past, at an injustice that should never have existed in the first place, the regret of having _failed_ in the most important ways.

Uncaring of the recruits’ eyes on him, on _them_ , Galahad reached out to grab Harry by the wrist before he could flee the room and stepped closer so that he could rest his forehead on his shoulder. As if on their own accord, Harry’s arms came around the agent’s waist, his fingers slightly clinging to the material of his jacket.

“None of that okay, I’m alive and that dickhead’s dead. You were on the other side of the fucking ocean, bloody _unconscious_. Stop blaming yourself.”

The recruits had already started making their way out of the room by the time they heard Harry’s derisive snort, but when Lorelei looked behind at the sound, the two men were still lost into their embrace, the world around them completely forgotten.

And she knew a bit about regret, knew that sometime you just couldn’t help it and whatever had happened, nothing Galahad said or did would make Harry stop. But it was pretty clear at Galahad’s expression as he leaned back to smile weakly at the older man that no matter what, he’d never stop trying.

***

There was now only eleven of them left and their training had both become easier and all that more harder.

Easier because they were now used to the crazy pacing, harder because the challenges were even more impossible to complete.

So when Harry told them they would be brushing up on their ballroom dancing (or just plain learn it for the ones whose idea of dancing meant going out in a club), they had been equally relieved for the reprieve and anxious of what the catch would be this time.

Their stress levels had rocketed high at the sight of agents Galahad and Percival waiting for them in the ballroom only to crash back down once Harry had explained the reason behind their presence.

“Now, all agents are required to have some basic training in dancing, but since it is usually more or less easy to pick up, it rarely makes it into the training regimen. However, because Agent Galahad’s next mission will require him to dance and he needs a refresher, I have decided that we would do this now. Since I’ll be partnering up with Galahad and that will leave you an odd number, Percival has graciously accepted to help out.” At the mention of his name, Percival waved at them, as if they didn’t know who the stoic man was already. “And to make things more fair and challenging, I’ll ask those who already know the waltz to be dancing in the opposite role than the one they’ve learned.”

There were a few protests, but this time Galahad was the one to put an end to it.

“Hey, you don’t hear _me_ complaining about having to learn to follow. Hell, I’ve barely learned how to be lead and now I gotta forget all about it because some posh twat would feel threatened in his masculinity otherwise.” It was easy to understand that the heat of the agent’s words had more to do with having to learn anything because of said _posh twat_ rather than having to learn how to follow.

“What Galahad is trying to say, is that times are changing and if we don’t want to be left behind, don’t want to become obsolete, we have to adapt to them.”

Somehow, that last part seemed to be aimed at Galahad which was surprising considering that, from what the recruits had glean from the rumor-and-not-so-rumor mill, he was Kingsman’s latest addition to the Knights and as such, probably didn’t need that much “adaptation”. But Galahad simply looked back at Harry with the same amused fondness in his eyes.

Now used to the maybe-lovers-definitely-more-than-friends’ antics, Chantelle interrupted the moment, lest they found a way to literally lose themselves into each other’s gaze.

“Could we maybe have a demonstration first?”

Li, her partner for the lesson, agreed at once, maybe a tiny bit too readily for it to be entirely innocent. Harry frowned in suspicion, because he had seen the little exchange between Percival and the pair before the lesson had begun, but surrendered at Galahad’s insistence.

“Let’s do this Harry! Anyway, I’m already used to follow your lead. Doing it while dancing shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

Soon they were both in position, and a nod from Harry towards Percival had the music fill the ballroom.

Galahad had been right about the relative easiness of their routine. Anyone watching them dance would have sworn that they were watching partners that had been together for _years_ , so effortless they made it looked. Even when Harry started leading Galahad into more elaborate moves, the younger man would execute them flawlessly, completely trusting Harry. The trust went both ways, Harry having the utmost faith into Galahad’s ability and if the recruits had yet to find out how the pair would define their relationship, there was no doubt in their minds that the two of them were bound together by a profound love.

The recruits would have been perfectly happy to spend all day watching them move across the floor and, judging from Harry’s look of utter contentment, their instructor wouldn’t have complained at all. However, just as Harry was dipping Galahad backward, the music suddenly changed for something much more modern. Harry froze in surprise, but his hold on the younger man stayed strong, even if the way Galahad was squirming in his hilarity couldn’t have made it easy.

“You’ll have to pay up Percy, told you he wouldn’t drop me!”

The other agent rolled his eyes, disappointment and amusement warring in the slight upward tilt of his lips.

After uprighting Galahad into a standing position, Harry made to leave, only to stop dead in his tracks when the younger man started pouting.

“Come on Harry! You wouldn’t actually leave your partner in the middle of a song? Isn’t it bad form or something?”

“I am not dancing to _that_.” The inflection of his voice on his last word made it clear what his feelings were on the music now playing through the hidden speakers.

“What happened to that whole “adapting to the changing times”?” Galahad challenged with a teasing smile.

“You’re a little shit, you know that right?” But there was no heat to the insult, only an affection so sweet they heard Percival gagging in mock-disgust behind them.

“Learned from the best, didn’t I?” He shot back before holding up his hand in invitation. None of the recruits were surprised to see Harry step closer again to accept it. “I’ll lead this time.”

Harry didn’t protest and that saying about how you couldn’t teach an old dog new tricks was obviously _wrong_ , because Harry picked up the moves pretty fast even if nothing Galahad did changed his surly expression.

That was until Harry somehow found himself back into being the lead and the Knight did some move that was clearly inspired by the classical dancing they had been doing just a few minutes ago. Harry caught on quickly and soon they were mixing both style seamlessly, coming up on the spot with some pretty remarkable new moves. And when usually the recruits would be exasperated by it, the chemistry and complicity between them as they were dancing was simply a riveting sight to behold.

The dance ended on another dip and enthusiastic applause not only from the recruits, but from Percival too, making the pair execute a quick bow while laughing.

“You’ve made a good point Galahad. I’ll see to it that more modern forms of dancing are added to the list of skills a Knight should acquire. And this time around, I think I’ll even ask you to teach those lessons.”

Eggsy nodded happily and Percival groaned in dismay when he realised that their little prank had backfired a bit. From the look on his face, he wasn’t looking forward to those dance lessons.

***

Claudia didn’t even winced when Gaius disinfected the long and profound gash running across her leg, barely even felt it in fact. You could say whatever you wanted about Kingsman, but at least, they didn’t skimp on the good drugs. Still, even though she felt no pain, it did little to cheer her up, something the nurse treating her picked up on quite easily.

“Why the long face? From what I’ve heard, you’ve completed your part of the mission quite impressively.”

“Yeah, sure, right until I fell and nearly split my leg in two,” she was only slightly exaggerating. At least, the good side of having been on a joint low risk mission with the nine remaining recruits meant that she had been alone at the time and she wouldn’t have to be ridiculed for her failure before being sent home.

The old nurse rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded strangely like ‘ _knights, all the same dramatic bunch_ ’ before patting her on top of her now bandaged leg.

“Agents come back injured all the time. The only thing that matters is that you completed your objective and didn’t compromised the others. Not to mention you’ve also managed to make your way back by yourself. If anything, you’ve helped your chances rather than hurt them.”

She took a moment to think about his words and could only admit that it made sense. It would have been completely unrealistic to think an agent would never get hurt and there wouldn’t be an infirmary with a team of doctors and nurses ready to operate around the clock at the manor itself if Kingsman wasn’t expecting that very possibility. Sure in an ideal world they would complete their missions without any incidents, but if it was truly an ideal world, then Kingsman would have no reason to be.

“Thanks Gaius,” she told the man when he came back from putting away the medical supplies he used to dress her wound and gently helped her lie down completely on her back.

He made a dismissive sound in answer to her gratitude before covering her with the blankets.

“Don’t try to escape. Don’t even think about it. Betters have tried… And failed.” His ominous tone only made her giggle.

“You’re kidding, right? If I had known it would have gotten me out of an overpacked dorm, I would have hurt myself on purpose earlier.”

“Now, _that_ would have had you disqualified,” Gaius chuckled fondly before he shook his head with exasperation when she pouted in chagrin. “Sleep now, there’s a good girl.”

*

Her rest was interrupted not much later when Galahad was wheeled into another bed of the ward, agent Lancelot trailing after him. Claudia worried for a moment, but if Galahad was awake and talking, then he couldn’t be in that bad a condition and she closed her eyes again even if she didn’t go back to sleep.

Anyway, it would have been a bit hard with the agent’s non-stop chatter and Lancelot low chuckling.

“Rox, I swear it’s a shame Harry was busy with the ducklings and didn’t came to save me. Not that you aren’t _aces_ ,” he added in a hurry at her scoffed _thank you_ that meant she had clearly been the one going to the rescue, “but have you ever seen him kick arses? It’s like art or something. There’s that sick move he does with his gun, it’s so freaking _hot_ , I swear I could get off just thinking about it.”

“Ugh, Eggsy please don’t, not when I am sitting right there. There are things I really don’t need to see.”

A sentiment Claudia more than shared. Sure agent Galahad (and boy did she wondered where he had gotten _Eggsy_ as a nickname) was pretty easy on the eye, but knowing what kind of fantasy he had would make it a bit harder to appreciate the view.

“Sorry Rox,” he apologized piteously, “but I can’t help it. I mean, it’s _Harry_ , he’s just so fucking perfect. Have you ever seen his curls? Damn, I would _kill_ to be allowed to touch them. Not that his hairstyle ain’t great, but freaking _curls_ Roxy.”

“Maybe we should just avoid bringing up Harry at all,” Lancelot tried to cut him off when he seemed ready to bawl like a teething babe over the mere memory of Harry’s hair. Of course, Galahad was having none of it and Claudia had the sudden epiphany that he was talking under the influence of some drug or another.

“He’s just so _bloody_ perfect you know. Well okay, he’s always late, he has shit taste in snacks and he can be such a wanker sometimes, but he’s still _perfect_. I wouldn’t change him even if I could.”

“Yeah, yeah I know Eggsy, he’s your very own prince Charming.” Claudia didn’t stopped pretending she was sleeping to check, but she had the distinct impression Lancelot was rolling her eyes at the other Knight.

“Not a prince! He never pretended he was one and I wouldn’t want a _prince_ anyway. I just want _Harry_. And he’s not mine.”

Her heart ache in sympathy at the absolute devastation in Galahad’s tone. There went the theory that they were a couple and she felt horrible for even betting on it right until Lancelot snorted really inelegantly.

“Sure, Eggsy keep telling yourself that. That man would let you tattoo “property of Eggsy Unwin” on his forehead if you asked nicely enough.”

The two stayed silent for a moment and Claudia cracked an eye open to see what was happening, only to find them both engage in a battle of wills under the form of a staring contest.

“He wouldn’t,” she barely heard the whisper, but the doubt in it was as clear as day.

“He would Eggsy. He really would. You might be sad he wasn’t there to play Knight in bulletproof suit to your damsel in distress, but I was actually fucking _relieved_ he was busy with the ducklings. He’s fucking terrifying when you’re in danger and you went and put yourself in harm’s way just to give me a diversion.”

“He’s not terrifying!” Eggsy cried out indignantly, before adding in a petulant whisper, “he’s just not.”

“Maybe not to you, but if something worse than a little truth serum had happened to you, _I_ would have seen that “sick move with his gun” up close and personal.”

“Harry would never,” Galahad cut himself off, before starting again. “Percy would have protected you.”

“Pfff, as if my dad would go against freaking _Arthur_ for me. He’d probably just remind me that I am a strong independant woman who needs no man before hightailing it out of there. And I wouldn’t even blame him.”

Eggsy sniggered and went on blabbering whatever came to mind, but Claudia was no longer listening, mind reeling from what she had overheard. Surely she must have heard wrong, because _Harry Hart_ simply couldn’t be _Arthur_. Or could he?

*

Claudia must have fallen asleep again at one point, because the next thing she knew, she was waking up in near total darkness, completely disoriented until she remembered she was in the infirmary.

She wondered what had woken hed up until she heard the sound of a chair being dragged over the floor and she made out the form of someone sitting besides Galahad’s bed.

There was a moment of utter silence, followed by a small confused moan that could have only come from Galahad and a somewhat muffled ‘What?’.

“Shhh, Eggsy just go back to sleep.” She recognized at once Harry’s voice and so did Galahad, judging by how he whispered the man’s name dreamily before he probably realised the man shouldn’t be by his side.

“Whatcha doin’ here? Shouldn’t you be with the ducklings?” His words were a bit slurred, but whether it was some kind of aftereffect from the truth serum or from having just woken up was hard to discern.

“No, they’re done with their mission. You’ll be proud of Chantelle I think. And what do you mean, what am I doing here? You’ve been hurt, where else would I be?”

“S’only truth serum. Gaius say I’ll be fine by morning.”

“That might be so, but you are still in the infirmary. I couldn’t help but be worried.”

“N’kay. ‘m fine though.”

“I am sure you are, but just… Humour me, my dear boy?”

The sheer reverence contained in those three words made Claudia wonder how Galahad could ever doubt that Harry was anything but completely enamoured with him. Galahad must have wondered the same thing, if his next words were anything to go by.

“Roxy says you’re mine too… Is it true?” Those last words were said so low that she barely could hear them from the other side of the ward.

“ _Oh Eggsy_ …” There was a long pause and Claudia unconsciously hold her breath, fearing the worst, hoping the best. “I thought you knew… I’m yours, I’ve always been.”

There were shuffling sounds after that and when she looked, she could see that Harry had joined Galahad in his bed and it made her smile.

She didn’t care that it meant she owed money to Lorelei, the only one who had still been betting that the two men weren’t a couple yet. She was just glad that there would be a bit more happiness in the world once morning come.

And truth be told, seeing everyone’s faces when Harry finally revealed he was Arthur would make up any lost money.


End file.
